"He had no teeth, and he was slobbering all over himself. I'm thinking, 'You can have your money back, just get me out of here. Let me go be an accountant." I can't tell you how badly I wanted out of there."Denver rookie QB John Elway, on Jack Lambert, after Lambert and the Steelers knocked Elway out of his first game as a pro (1983).

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thought Gailey's offensive system was not using Aikman's talents. So Jones dumped him after two seasons and brought back Jack Reilly as offensive coordinator. Reilly then hired Ernie Zampese, the Cowboys former offensive coordinator, as a consultant.

Aikman maintains he didn't try to get Gailey fired, and Hellestrae thinks his friend is getting a bad rap.

"Troy purposely stayed away from all of that. He didn't go into Jerry (Jones) and say, 'I want a new offense and I want Chan fired.' "

But because Aikman wasn't a fan of Gailey's system and was outspoken about the previous head coach, Barry Switzer, he has shouldered much of the blame for the coaching change.